Hawaii Day 3- Turtle Beach and Polynesian Cultural Center

On Wednesday the main event was the Polynesian Cultural Center. Here are Mike and the kids in the hotel lobby. On Tuesday, while Mike was working, the kids and I went shopping. Sarah spent her own money to buy her dress, flower and jewelry. The boys used their money to buy shark necklaces. When we went to Maui in 2007 Mike bought he and Sarah matching outfits, so Sarah insisted I buy him a shirt to match her dress. I think they look adorable together. :)

On the way we decided to stop off at "Turtle/Laniakea beach" which is not Turtle Bay. It's a beach famous for turtles swimming with the tide. We did see one turtle there that was "surfing."

We hadn't anticipated the kids getting in the water, because we were only planning to see turtles. Dumb on our part. Of COURSE the kids were going to get wet if they were near water. The boys quickly began shedding clothing. Steven was a little more private, but Adam had no problem going au natural. 

After backtracking to Walmart for new underwear and shorts, we made our way to the Cultural Center. They had "villages" representing the different Polynesia islands like Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Fiji, Hawaii and a couple others. My kids really liked Tahiti because they got tatoos that represented warriors and royalty. 

The kids had to try really hard to avoid the hot lava

After the Luau there has a wonderful production called, "Ha: Breath of Life". It didn't start until 7:30, which was 10:30 Utah time, so Adam passed out a few minutes into it. I tried to wake him up for the fire dancers but he was out. Visiting the PCC has inspired Sarah to attend BYU Hawaii when she grows up. We'll just keep letting her think we'll let her go to school out of state. ;)

Aloha! Hawaii Days 1 & 2

Mike found out he couldn't go on the trip to Germany he was looking forward to because they needed him to go to Hawaii for three weeks. He was actually pretty disappointed. Since he was going to be there a while we thought we'd look into the kids and I joining him for part of the trip. We wouldn't have to pay for his plane ticket and we could use the housing provided to him. We decided to do it. 

Mike arrived a week before we did. He was taking part in a big training mission and here are some of the pictures he took. Not a bad office view. 

The kids and I arrived Monday the 26th. It was an early flight, but all went well. Adam decided to ignore the shoes I'd set out for him and wear boots. Good thing I packed two pair or sandals. :)

Celebratory juice toast. The kids loved the "fancy" glasses.

View from our balcony

Our first morning there the kids woke up at 5 AM because they were still on Utah time. (which they stayed on for at least a week) We decided to take the opportunity to see the sun rise. We weren't disappointed. It was beautiful.

Mike had a flight so the kids and I hung out at the hotel pool/playground. 

Random February

This picture is from 2/11/2015, but I can not for the life of me think of why I'd be at the mall with the kids in their bathing suits and I think my niece Amelia with us. This shall remain a great mystery.

This is a different ski day, but Adam always got to be my buddy

Sarah and Lillian as twins

Sarah got to take a turn as a lunchroom helper. Isn't she cute?!

Valentine's Day fun

This is proof that at one time in my life I was a fun mom. ;) I thought it would be fun to invite the neighborhood kids over for cookie decorating. It was a success and looking back from 2018 it's crazy how little they all were. I should probably do this again this February. Hmmm.....

I got to volunteer in Adam's preschool Valentine's Day party. He was so little!

Happy Birthday Dude!

On the weekend of the 18th AND the 25th we celebrated Steven's 7th birthday. Mike was going to be gone the 25th, so we needed to celebrate early.

For his birthday activity he'd been BEGGING to go to Airborne, which is a fun center with trampolines and foam pits all over it. Amelia and Andy joined us, so it was a lot of fun. (we took a lot of video, but not pictures. I'll have to piece them together and post a video.)

We also took him to lunch at Rodizio Grill. We figured he'd love pulling meat off a skewer.

We had the traditional birthday dinner made my Lynette Sunday the 18th. I let him pick his cake and he chose to have me bake one and then let him decorate it. I was more than happy to comply. :) On his birthday I made him breakfast and let him rule the day.

Here are 7 of the things that make Steven such an awesome kid.

1. He is still full of energy and loves life. If given an audience he can talk for hours. I love hearing the stories he comes up with. It's fun to try and separate fact from fiction. :)
2. He is a great big brother to Adam. If Adam is sad, even if Steven is accidentally the cause, he'll go out of his way to be a goofball to cheer him up.

3. Steven is very creative. He still loves to play Minecraft and has gotten really good at it. He, Sarah and some neighbor kids are building a world together. It's fun (loud) to hear them talk about what they should put in their world. He still loves to play with Legos and no longer needs help with more difficult models although we like to build them with him occasionally.

4. He's a great skier. This is his second season skiing and with all other things, he has no fear. He likes to go off jumps and ski through trees. Thank goodness for helmets!

5. He's a good reader. He's started to enjoy reading more and although he sometimes likes to just flip through books, he's above grade level and able to read chapter books.

6.He's outgoing and makes friends easily. Steven makes people smile. He likes to make friends everywhere he goes and even in Hawaii he'd walk up to kids and start playing with them.

7. He love our "Dude" and are grateful every single day that he is a part of our family.